5.  The applicant was born in 1966 and lives in Irkutsk.
6.  On 24 May 2002 the applicant, the head of the Anti-Drug Trafficking Department of the North-Eastern Customs Office at the time, was arrested on suspicion of abuse of position and drug trafficking. An investigator drew up an arrest record and, in detail, informed the applicant of his rights as an accused, including the right to have legal assistance and the right to remain silent. The applicant signed the record, noting that he clearly understood his rights, but he refused legal assistance and decided to make a statement.
7.  According to the applicant, police officers beat him up and threatened him and his family. They also promised to release him in exchange for a confession. The applicant wrote a statement confessing to drug trafficking.
8.  On the same date the investigator interrogated the applicant in the absence of counsel, whose assistance the applicant had refused. The refusal was recorded in a report duly dated and signed by the applicant.
9.  The police searched the house of the applicant’s co-accused and found a parcel of heroin. The applicant claimed that a neighbour, Mr M., had seen a police officer putting the parcel into the closet.
10.  On 27 December 2002 the applicant was released on a written undertaking not to leave the town.
11.  On 10 March 2004 the Irkutsk Regional Court found the applicant guilty as charged and sentenced him to four years and six months’ imprisonment. In view of the applicant’s position, the trial hearings were closed to the press and public. The conviction was based on self‑incriminating statements made during the pre-trial investigation, search records, expert examination reports and witness testimonies. According to the applicant, the trial court refused to hear Mr M. However, as noted in a statement of appeal lodged by the applicant’s co-accused, the trial court had heard Mr M. at least on two occasions: during the investigation phase of the trial, when he had testified and the parties had been allowed to ask questions, and when the trial court, having accepted the parties’ request, had again questioned Mr M. to clarify certain points.
12.  The applicant alleged that the judgment of 10 March 2004 had not been pronounced publicly.
13.  According to the Government, following the public pronouncement of the judgment, the Regional Court had notified the applicant of his right to appeal against conviction and had explained “procedural issues pertaining to lodging an appeal” to him. The Government provided the Court with typed notes signed by the applicant and his lawyer and certifying that they had been served with a copy of the judgment of 10 March 2004 and that the applicant had been informed of the ten-day time-limit for lodging an appeal. Another note submitted by the Government was handwritten by the applicant and showed that he had received a copy of the trial court’s records.
14.  The applicant and his lawyer appealed against the conviction, having lodged lengthy appeal statements. They disputed the applicant’s involvement in the criminal offences he had been found guilty of and disagreed with the way the trial court had established the relevant facts, the distribution of roles between him and his co-defendant and the classification of his own acts. They submitted, in particular, that the trial court had disregarded the applicant’s testimony and statements by witnesses which supported it, in particular, regarding his submissions that he had committed the alleged act of drug trafficking whilst he had been undercover and acting within his official functions. In the appeal statement the applicant did not ask the Supreme Court to ensure his presence at the appeal hearing.
15.  On 18 June 2004 the head of Detention Facility no. 1 in Irkutsk, where the applicant was detained at the time, received a telegram from the Supreme Court for the applicant informing him of an appeal hearing scheduled for 6 July. The Government also provided the Court with typed summonses not bearing any stamps or signatures. An official of the Supreme Court allegedly sent those summonses on 16 June 2004 to the Bar Association where the applicant’s counsel worked in order to confirm his ability to attend the appeal hearing on 6 July 2004.
16.  On 6 July 2004 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the judgment of 10 March 2004, having endorsed the Regional Court’s reasoning. The applicant was not brought to the appeal hearing. His counsel was also absent. The Supreme Court proceeded in their absence, heard a prosecutor who supported the conviction, and examined the applicant’s and his lawyer’s statements of appeal.